At least 33 people, the majority of them children, have died from malnutrition in Gaza over the past 48 hours, according to the Hamas-controlled health ministry.
This latest figure pushes the total number of malnutrition-related deaths in the territory to 101 since the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war in October 2023, with 80 of the victims being children.
The worsening humanitarian crisis has also taken a toll on those trying to help.
Head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, painted a grim picture at a Geneva press briefing.
“Caretakers, including UNRWA colleagues in Gaza, are also in need of care now,” he stated. “Doctors, nurses, journalists, humanitarians, among them, UNRWA staff are hungry. Many are now fainting due to hunger and exhaustion while performing their duties.”
Describing conditions as “hell on earth,” Lazzarini added that “nowhere is safe” within Gaza, as the besieged territory continues to suffer from a lack of essential supplies.
UNRWA estimates that since late May, around 1,000 starving individuals have been killed while attempting to access food aid, many either shot or trampled in stampedes as they rushed toward supply trucks.
Following the breakdown of ceasefire negotiations, Israel enforced a total blockade on Gaza on March 2, halting all aid and food deliveries. While a limited number of aid trucks were permitted entry from late May, their arrival has been sporadic and insufficient to meet the population’s needs.
Earlier this week, UNRWA posted on X (formerly Twitter) that enough aid was waiting in warehouses outside Gaza to feed the population for more than three months, but it remains blocked. The agency also noted that food prices in the enclave have surged as much as 40 times above normal rates.
Israel maintains that it is allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza and accuses Hamas of obstructing its distribution — a claim that humanitarian groups operating on the ground continue to challenge.
